A Military In Tatters And The Senseless Onslaught Against The Media, By Dele Agekameh

It is most apt today for this column to open with the timeless saying “Those who the gods want to destroy, they first make mad”. Otherwise, how would someone describe the unpalatable development that has been going on since the early hours of last Friday across the country? Last Friday, the Nigerian press came under a coordinated assault by security agents who had laid ambush for the daily newspapers on the highways and distribution centres. The assault bears all the trappings of the dark days of military dictatorship as soldiers claiming “orders from above”, intercepted, seized and, in some cases, destroyed newspapers on sight.

According to reports, soldiers who laid ambush at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, confiscated copies of the The PUNCH, The Nation, Daily Trust and Leadership, while , in some cases, wrappers and cover pages of The PUNCH were damaged. In various statements issued after the early morning rampage, Leadership reported that soldiers intercepted and destroyed copies of the day’s publication at the Kaduna toll gate. The Nation too saw its vans ambushed in Abuja, Benin-Warri Road, Port Harcourt, Kaduna-Kano Road and Nasarawa-Jos Road. In Benin, Edo State, soldiers stormed the Nigerian Union of Journalists Press Centre to disrupt activities as they stopped vehicles, hunting for some national dailies. And this is still an ongoing thing.

Military Siege On The Media: Statement By The Newpaper Proprietors Association Of Nigeria

Following the harassment of newspaper vendors/distributors and the seizure of large volumes of newspapers by soldiers who initially targeted the following newspapers: LEADERSHIP, DAILY TRUST, The NATION and PUNCH, but later extended the siege to all major newspapers in the country for the second day today, the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) held an emergency meeting in Abuja on June 7, 2014 with representatives of vendors and distributors and resolved as follows:
1. The NPAN unequivocally condemns this attack of FREE SPEECH by soldiers, in Abuja, Kaduna, Kano, Jos, Maiduguri, Ibadan amongst other cities, claiming to be acting on "orders". This assault on FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION through the stoppage of distribution of newspapers is inconsistent with the values of any democratic society and the Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria. We therefore call upon the military authorities to lift the siege immediately and call the soldiers to order.

Why Nigerian military blocks newspapers distribution in Abuja, Lagos

The Nigerian military on Saturday continued its onslaught on newspapers by sealing off the popular major distribution depot in the Area 1 District of Abuja, from where all newspapers are distributed to agents and vendors across the Nigerian capital. Witnesses said soldiers in about seven trucks laid siege on the distribution point, preventing any kind of newspaper circulation from taking place.

The military attack on Nigerian newspapers commenced on Friday with soldiers confiscating thousands of Nigerian newspapers including Leadership, The Nation, and Punch newspapers.

Media houses promptly devised an alternate and secret means to ensure their papers get to the public in the Nigerian capital promptly; a reminder of the days of military dictatorship.